[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices]
[Page 56783-56784]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22se04-70]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction
Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0070; Incidental Take of Marine Mammals
During Specified Activities Applications; 50 CFR 18, Subpart J
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, have submitted the
collection of information described below to OMB for approval under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. If you wish to
obtain the proposed information collection or explanatory materials,
contact the Information Collection Clearance Officer at the address or
phone number listed below.
DATES: You must submit comments on or before October 22, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this information collection renewal to
the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA at
(202) 395-6566 (fax) or OIRA_DOCKET@OMB.eop.gov (e-mail). Please
provide a copy of your comments to Krista Bibb, Information Collection
Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203; (703) 358-2269 (fax); or at
Krista_Bibb@fws.gov (e-mail).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information
collection request or explanatory information, contact Krista Bibb by
phone at (703) 358-2482 or by e-mail at Krista_Bibb@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have submitted a request to OMB to renew
approval of the information collection clearance requirements for
Incidental Take of Marine Mammals During Specified Activities
Applications; 50 CFR 18, subpart J. Currently, we have approval from
OMB to collect information under OMB control number 1018-0070. This
approval expires on September 30, 2004. We may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless we display a currently valid OMB control number. OMB regulations
at 5 CFR 1320, which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), require that interested members
of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on
information collection and recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR
1320.8(d)). OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove our
information collection request, but their response may be given as
early as 30 days after our submittal. Therefore, to ensure
consideration, send your comments to OMB by the date listed in the
DATES section near the beginning of this notice.
On April 30, 2004, we published in the Federal Register (69 FR
23803) a 60-day notice of our intent to request renewal of this
information collection authority from OMB. In that notice, we solicited
public comments for 60 days ending on June 29, 2004. We received two
comments, both from the same individual, regarding this Federal
[[Page 56784]]
Register notice. The commenter expressed opposition to use of the term
``incidental'' and further encouraged the Service to protect all
animals. We note the concerns raised by this individual; however, we
are required under section 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA) of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) to take certain
actions with regard to the ``incidental taking'' of marine mammals. The
regulations at 50 CFR 18.27(c) define incidental, but not intentional,
taking as, ``takings which are infrequent, unavoidable, or accidental.
It does not mean that the taking must be unexpected.'' We have not made
any changes to our information collection as a result of the comments
received.
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA authorizes the Service to allow
the incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of marine mammals
during a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) in a
specified geographic region. Prior to allowing these takes, we must
find that the total of such taking will have a negligible impact on the
species or stocks and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on
the availability of the species or stocks for subsistence uses by
Alaskan Natives.
The information that we propose to collect will be used to evaluate
applications for specific incidental take regulations to determine
whether or not such regulations and subsequent Letters of Authorization
(LOAs) are consistent with the MMPA and should be issued. The
information is needed to help establish the scope of specific
incidental take regulations. The information is also required to
evaluate the impacts of the activities on the species or stocks of the
marine mammals and on the availability of the species or stocks for
subsistence uses by Alaskan Natives. The information will enable us to
ensure that all available means for minimizing the incidental take
associated with a specific activity are considered by applicants.
We estimate that the total annual burden associated with the
request will be 2,027 hours. This represents an average annual
estimated burden taken over a 3-year period, which includes the 200
hours required to complete the request for specific procedural
regulations (68 FR 66744). For each LOA expected to be requested and
issued subsequent to issuance of specific procedural regulations, we
estimate that 28 hours per project will be invested: 8 hours will be
required to complete each request for an LOA, 12 hours will be required
for onsite monitoring activities, and 8 hours will be required to
complete each final monitoring report. We estimate that 10 companies
will be requesting LOAs and submitting monitoring reports annually for
each of 7 sites in the region covered by the specific regulations.
Title: Incidental Take of Marine Mammals During Specified
Activities applications; 50 CFR 18, subpart J.
OMB Clearance Number: 1018-0070.
Form Number: None.
Frequency of Collection: Semiannual.
Description of Respondents: Oil and gas industry companies.
Total Annual Responses: 141.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,027.
We again invite comments on this information collection renewal on:
(1) Whether or not this collection of information is necessary for us
to properly perform our functions, including whether or not this
information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of our
estimate of burden, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions we use; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information we are proposing to collect; and (4) ways
for us to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their home addresses from the record, which we will honor to the extent
allowable by law. There may also be limited circumstances in which we
would withhold a respondent's identity from the rulemaking record, as
allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address,
you must state this clearly at the beginning of your comment. We will
not consider anonymous comments. We generally make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Dated: September 3, 2004.
Krista Bibb,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 04-21278 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am]
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